PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Pats Posits: Super Bowl Week LFG

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After eight Super Bowl trips the New England Patriots have had their fair share of all kinds of Super Bowl bye week intrigue. The first time around against the Rams they were the scrappy backup QB underdogs, facing a mighty passing attack that was looking for a second Super Bowl.

It was supposed to be the birth of the Rams dynasty, instead it was the birth of the Patriots’. And here we are, 18 years later, after Spygate, Deflategate, TB12gate and every other little gate in between, once again in the only game that truly counts when you’re a dynasty.

Now we’re debating how good the AFC East has been over the last two decades and whether or not Julian Edelman is a hall of famer. I’ll take that over Super Bowls 42 or 49 bye week intrigue any time.

I always try to look at each year in and of itself. That’s what Bill Belichick does. With the benefit of hindsight it’s easy to look back and connect common threads between these individual teams.

The 2018 Patriots have some of the very best of them — a tough, resilient football team that plays hard together. They’ve made the clutch plays. And they’re another in a long list of fully functional football machines.

Did they suck on the road this year? Yup. But were they also one of the most balanced and fundamentally sound teams of the Belichick era at home? Definitely.

That home team has showed up twice in the playoffs against two very good teams. Hate them all you want, but the Patriots proved their doubters wrong by following the path of the 2001 and 2004 teams, teams that won the AFC Championship on the road against a favored opponent, redeeming their in-season stumbles.

Because they sucked so badly on the road this year made it doubly satisfying, especially against such a talented team who had haunted them a couple times in recent history.

Let’s hop into a bunch of Posits on some of the key storylines.

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Super Bowl 53 Early Scouting Report: Los Angeles Rams

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I couldn’t help but jump into some Rams research this morning, as much as I’d like to bask in the glow of the win in Kansas City forever. With just one opponent left to beat there is total clarity and the Rams were just sitting there waiting for me.

Yes, Jared Goff has that certain nothing that Eli and Foles had, but what is more scary is the Rams have the kind of interior defensive line those Giants and Eagles teams did.

Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh are easy nightmare fuel for a pocket passer like Tom Brady. Add a fast and aggressive defense around them and this Rams has all the pieces needed to slow down the Patriots attack.

Let’s dive into some other initial impressions of the Rams.

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Film Review: Total Team Effort in Patriots AFC Championship Win

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With the coaches film still not out, I couldn’t wait to dive in for a stress-free re-experience of the 2018 AFC Championship. Patriots Super Bowl 2019 betting has already begun, but with two weeks to go I can’t turn the page just quite yet.

As in all big games there are a handful of plays that went the Chiefs’ way, whether it was because they’re good, the Patriots made a mistake, or the refs threw a flag. But despite the circumstances, the Patriots never blinked and made the tough plays when it counted. It was once again masterful to behold.

Here’s a bunch of rapid fire thoughts as I re-watched the game.

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Pats Posits: It Just Keeps Going

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Another year, another heart-thumping playoff game that came down to the last play. The 2018 AFC Championship will go down in Patriots lore as one of the most impressive games of the Belichick-Brady reign.

The Chiefs made their plays, but the Patriots weathered the storm, executed their gameplan save a few breakdowns, and never blinked as the score went back and forth in the fourth quarter like we’ve seen so many times in the past 18 seasons.

This was the game Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman showed that when the chips were down they could do what no Patriots team had done since 2006 — win a playoff game on the road. And winning an AFC Championship on the road puts them in special company with just the 2001 and 2004 teams (and 1985 if we’re getting technical).

It’s even more remarkable considering how bad the Patriots were on the road all year. But when it’s counted, the rock-solid and balanced team that we saw plenty of times at home has shown up twice in the postseason.

The defense gave up a few close plays, but all things considered, they reigned in the Chiefs offense just enough, with Trey Flowers and Kyle Van Noy leading the way and solid coverage behind them all night. Pressure and coverage worked as one and it got them off the field on five of nine third downs.

And the special teams did just what they had to. No mistakes (though it sure looked like Edelman might’ve made a fatal one for a second there). No missed XPs.

They were so dominant that they overcame being -2 in turnovers!! Add in the fourth-down stop and the Pats left a number of points on the board. Those should’ve been the difference, but somehow they weren’t. Because they just imposed their offensive will like few Patriots playoff teams have consistently done.

So much to unpack from this one, let’s Posit it.

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Patriots Gameplan: AFC Championship at Kansas City Chiefs

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Another year, another AFC Championship game. I still remember when it was just exciting to be playing the best real football game of the year. Yes, the Super Bowl is the one that counts most but that’s a drawn-out exhibition. The conference championship games feature home crowds and weather. As a pure football fan, these are the games I most enjoy watching.

Our eighth-straight is every bit as exciting because it’s in a hostile environment. Most aren’t picking the Patriots to win and they’ve got poor history on this field, plus they were one of the worst road teams we’ve seen under Bill Belichick. The questions are constantly thrown around now, is this the end of Belichick and Brady?

Well it’s been clear how much fight they still have in them and there’s no doubt the Patriots will go down swinging with all they got against the Chiefs.

But yes, we’re close to the end, so it’s best to savor every second of once again being on the second-biggest stage. Here’s the gameplan for a satisfying victory and a trip to a third-straight (!!!!!) Super Bowl game.

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What Went Right in ’01,’04 and Wrong in ’06,’13,’15?

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There might not be two more impressive wins of the Patriots Dynasty than taking down the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in both the 2001 and 2004 AFC Championships. Since then, the Pats are 0-3 on the road in the conference championship, a trend they’ll want to reverse against the Chiefs on Sunday.

It got me wondering, what did those two teams have that the latter three did not? What enabled them to win the second-biggest game of the season in a hostile environment? What might we draw to this year’s Patriots squad?

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